Gemotions

The sunlight streaming through the window seemed too bright, the sounds of the city too loud. Elena clutched the faded photographs. A tremor ran through her limbs. She kept repeating herself, “This can’t be right, it just can’t.”

The photographs contradicted everything her mother had ever told her about her grandparents' courtship. There were pictures of her grandfather kissing a woman with raven hair and a mischievous glint in her eyes, not her grandmother with her prim smile and sensible shoes. Elena felt a strange tightening in her chest.

She took a deep, shaky breath. The photos felt like a betrayal not only of her grandmother, but of her own understanding of her family. Her vision blurred, and the image in front of her swirled.